Port Douglas Nippers greeting drives Ironwoman Hancock on her paddle for mental health awareness

Rowan Anderson

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Bonnie Hancock and Port Douglas Nippers and Surf Lifesavers IMAGE: Supplied

“Far North Queensland, you are such a vibe.”

Bonnie Hancock is paddling around Australia, a 12,000-kilometre distance, on an ocean ski to raise money for Gotcha4Life, a voyage that started on the Gold Coast last December.

A professional Ironwoman at just seventeen who has competed in 9 Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series, represented Australia, completed a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics and is now a passionate coach.

Speaking with Newsport from her stop over in Cairns, Bonnie Hancock, spoke to Newsport about her journey so far and what it meant to be greeted by local nippers at the Port Douglas Surf Club last weekend.

“It was so lovely! To have the nippers on the beach, asking questions and their parents there with me was something special,” she said.

“I haven’t had company on the water since Western Australia and am pumped for the surf ski and surf lifesaving community to join me in different locations as I make my way down the East Coast.

“I think that is going to really lift me and help me finish this paddle.”

Gotcha4Life is a not-for-profit foundation with a goal of zero suicides, taking action by delivering mental fitness programs that engage, educate and empower local communities.

It is a foundation that the Iron Woman is extremely passionate about.

“Throughout Covid I had a lot of people around me really suffer with depression, anxiety, relationship, and job loss – so now more than ever mental health is a really important topic.

"When you're raising money for a cause that's so, so important. It's a very big source of motivation.”

Her team of ten; travelling both by land and by boat are her support and without them this would not be possible, as Hancock commented.

“It’s so important to have people supporting you – not only physically but mentally whether that is conversations on the boat or a debrief at the end of the day. That’s really gotten me through.”

In what was planned to be a six-month challenge Ms Hancock has had to contend with hurdles along the way, her biggest challenge however is one she may not have expected to be so bad.

“Sea sickness has probably been the biggest challenge of the entire tip,” she admits.

“Prior to this trip I put on fifteen kilograms knowing the calories I would be burning but ironically that is what has saved me because with the sea sickness I wasn’t able to keep anything down and lost that gained weight in that part of the trip across the Great Australian Bight.

“I am so glad that I put that weight on prior.

“The worse part was when I started vomiting in my ski. I had been vomiting on the boat but when it happened more frequently it was when thing began to head south.”

Hancock was hospitalised to recoup electrolytes into her system after a rough two weeks crossing the Great Australian Bight while battling reflux, malnourishment and trying to paddle 100 kilometres a day.

In the end the only thing she was able to keep down was spoon fed ice cream with Milo – due to its soft and cold texture – used with elderly patients as Hancock was aware of this from her normal career as a dietician.

Beyond the hospital stay however her trip continued and Hancock has had a lot of paddlers reach out to join her along the way as she heads into the final leg of her trip with arrival back on the Gold Coast on August 28.

Once she has a chance to recoup and recover Hancock has said that a documentary and a book documenting her trip are in the works.

Nippers inspect paddle ski IMAGE: Supplied

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